Daylight (1996)

Disaster in a New York tunnel as explosions collapse both ends of it. One hero tries to help the people inside find their way to safety.

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer:

Leslie Bohem

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Kit Latura
Amy Brenneman	...	Madelyne Thompson
Viggo Mortensen	...	Roy Nord
Dan Hedaya	...	Frank Kraft
Jay O. Sanders	...	Steven Crighton
Karen Young	...	Sarah Crighton
Claire Bloom	...	Eleanor Trilling
Vanessa Bell Calloway	...	Grace Calloway
Renoly Santiago	...	Mikey
Colin Fox	...	Roger Trilling
Danielle Harris	...	Ashley Crighton
Trina McGee	...	LaTonya (as Trina McGee-Davis)
Marcello Thedford	...	Kadeem
Sage Stallone	...	Vincent
Jo Anderson	...	Bloom

Storyline

Trouble strikes when runaway robbers in a getaway car hit truck full of explosives in the tunnel connecting Manhattan and New Jersey. Survivors are left in a weakened tunnel blocked at both exits. As Kit Latura approaches the tunnel, he sees the impact and knows he gotta take action. With time running out, he enters the tunnel through a system of maintenance walkways. Can he get the survivors out before the tunnel fills up?

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Plot Keywords:

collapsing tunnel | electronic music score | blowout | tunnel | explosion | 

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Taglines:

No air. No escape. No time.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disaster-related peril, death and destruction

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Daylight: Infierno en el túnel

Filming Locations:

Monterey, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,014,795, 8 December 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$33,023,469

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$126,189,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Davis Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rob Cohen originally wanted Nicolas Cage to play Kit Latura. Universal execs felt he was more of a "character actor", and Sylvester Stallone was more commercially viable.

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Goofs

When the fans are shut down so Kit can get into the vent system, he gets past the first fan, and it kicks on. The other fans aren't moving that fast. Once the first fan kicked on, the other fans should be spinning much faster due to fluidic coupling, similar to a torque converter in a car.

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Quotes

Madelyne Thompson: Don't be scared. They're just shit with feet.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of 'Daylight' (1998)

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Soundtracks

Don't Go Out With Your Friends Tonite
Written by L. Bryan, R. Bryan, D. Hoffpauir and K. Kerby
Performed by Ho-Hum
Courtesy of Universal Records
By Arrangement with MCA Special Markets and Products

User Reviews

The Po-Sly-don Adventure

Geez, that cab driver sure knows a lot about rescue procedures. Hey, he's Sylvester Stallone! Sly plays Kit Latura, a disgraced EMS hotshot who was fired for a major men-killing mistake (even though he's still clearly the #1 guy in this particular line of work) and happens upon some major trouble. A couple of thieving imbeciles inadvertently cause an explosion in a tunnel under New York's Hudson River, trapping a multi-culti band of survivors between a rock and an impossible place. Latura volunteers to shimmy into the proverbial hell and lead the bedraggled few to---say it with me---'Daylight'. Would he have been as gung ho if he'd known he'd get so wet?

Label this one 'Die Hard' in a tunnel or 'The Po-Sly-don Adventure'. In fact, director Rob Cohen probably screened 'The Poseidon Adventure' a few times while prepping his film. That's my favourite of the absurd '70s catastrophe flicks and 'Daylight' strikes the same notes, often successfully. There's water and fire, rats and stereotypes, it's dank and dark, and you're never sure which mid-level movie star will die next. And credit where it's due, there's even plenty of pathos in the "we all gotta work together" vein and touching scenes of quiet humanity that stop an inch short of treacle. I was moved more than usual by a Stallone picture.

The movie made squat at the box office back in December '96, but it's worth a DVD rental for its solid craftsmanship. The F/X and sound design are money. As for the acting, the lead characters (Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen) aren't especially memorable, but some of the lower-billed performers (Stan Shaw & Colin Fox, to name two) escape the movie with some dignity. The only real villain is human idiocy---people go where they're not supposed to go and do things they're not supposed to do. 'Daylight' is formulaic, but it's still better than most disaster crap I've seen.